"No Homo Bruh"

Homophobia, what’s that?

Homophobia is prejudice. It is to judge based on sexual orientation. It is to think that all those in the LGBT community do not deserve rights. It is to accept the stereotypes made against those in the LGBT community, and vocalize these stereotypes. It is to maliciously target those in the LGBT community. It is to condone bullying in the LGBT community. I do understand that fighting homophobia is like fighting any other fraction of prejudice like sexism, which is for the most part, difficult. However, it is important to fight these restrictions that do in fact appear as homophobic, that are placed in people in the LGBT community. If we sit there and let these homophobic attitudes in our work workplaces, governments, and TV screens build up, we will be molding prejudice generations of leaders.

A conversation with Kenny

• Me: Did you know, in countries like Uganda you can be brutally beaten then killed for being a part of the LGBT community?
• Kenny (high school student): Well, they shouldn’t be flaunting their sexuality in the first place. Honestly, nobody cares if you are gay or lesbian here as long as you do not make it obvious.
• Me: That makes absolutely no sense. Why is it that those who aren’t gay/lesbian are allowed to “flaunt their sexuality?” What does it mean to flaunt your sexuality?
• Kenny: It is normal for heterosexuals to hold hands as that is a part of the societal norm. And it makes a lot of people uncomfortable when members of the LGBT community proudly flaunt their sexuality. I honestly believe that it is not normal for someone to be gay or lesbian. I think something must have happened to them in their past life for them to be gay or lesbian.
• Me: You don’t know if you are born gay or lesbian because you are not gay. How can you tell me that you are not born gay or lesbian?
• Kenny: Well, I am a firm believer in The Bible and The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman; that does not leave a lot of room for homosexuality, does it?
• Me: But does the bible not say thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself?
• Kenny: Yes, that will not stop me from loving people. I will always love people. But I just won’t condone homosexuality.
• Me: Homophobia is a form of hatred. And if you are using The Bible to back your homophobia, that is wrong. Everyone interprets religious text differently. It has different meanings to different people. I also wanted to add that you have not done your research either. Is it not interesting that a few years ago we were hearing about all of these politicians who were cheating on their wives with men? They were a part of the LGBT community to begin with, but they suppressed their feelings, got married, and had children so that they could be accepted by their own society, so that they could land jobs without having to worry about being discriminated against.
• Kenny: ….that still does not prove you can be “born” gay/lesbian.
• Me: It has been scientifically proven that you can. And the fact that the LGBT community has existed throughout history and have been oppressed throughout history should be enough proof for you.

-          David Kato was killed brutally beaten because he was gay.

-          Kathy Kozenchenko was the first publicly lesbian, who was elected for the Ann Arbor city council in Michigan.

-           “Bill Clinton received 89.2% of the lesbian and gay vote in 1992”.

-          “The first state to decriminalize homosexuality was Illinois, in 1961”

-          “The first city to ban discrimination against gay men and lesbians was East Lansing, Michigan in 1972.”

-          “The first county to prohibit job discrimination against gays and lesbians
was Santa Cruz County in California, in 1975.”

-          “The first state to pass a civil rights law protecting the rights of gays
and lesbians was Wisconsin, in 1982.”

Source: Singer, Benett L., and David Deschamps. “STATISTICS.” PFLAG Upstate SC. 1994. Web. 08 Apr. 2011. <http://www.pflagupstatesc.org/statistics.htm>.

Homosexuality is found in over 450 species. Homophobia is found in only one. Which one seems unnatural now?

(via model-through-it)

“That’s Gay!”

  If I had a dollar for every time someone said “that’s gay” to describe something in a negative connotation, then I would no longer need a Stafford loan, or Sallie Mae to help me pay for my tuition. I would never receive a phone call from St. John’s University’s financial aid office about an overdue payment.Unfortunately, we live in a society where it is normal, and in fact “cool” to degrade a sexual orientation by turning the sole name of that orientation into an insult. We create slurs targeting those in the LGBT community and proudly and publicly use these slurs. We comfortably use these slurs in front of our children, and even if we don’t use these slurs, these slurs are still used on television, the radio, in the music we listen to, and so forth. Children watch and listen to these programs, and broadcasts. In the music industry, the most inspirational rappers in hip hop like JayZ,   Kanye West and Nas have had homophobic lyrics in their songs. Consequently, these children are raised to consume these homophobic attitudes. It is almost as though we are the root of the instilment of these attitudes as a result of the acceptance of the media we are exposed to. It is up the people as a whole to denounce the homophobia prevalent in our lives.  Nonetheless, justifications are still made that support the existence of homophobia.